Phone hacking: timeline of the scandal - Telegraph Phone Hacking Phone hacking: timeline of the scandal The key events in the phone hacking scandal, which has led to the closure of the News of the World, halted Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB takeover bid, and prompted the arrest of several key figures. 11:15AM BST 23 Jul 2012 Key events: 2000 Rebekah Brooks is appointed editor of the News of the World. Aged just 32 and the youngest national newspaper editor in the country, she begins a campaign to name and shame alleged paedophiles, leading to some alleged offenders being terrorised by angry mobs. She also campaigns for public access to the Sex Offenders Register, which eventually comes into law as "Sarah's Law." Phone Hacking: files for five journalists sent to CPS 11 Jun 2012 Schoolgirl Milly Dowler , 13, disappears in the London suburb of Walton-on-Thames in March. Her remains are found in September. Her murder is one of the most notorious of the decade and her killer is convicted in 2011.

2003 Rebekah Brooks becomes editor of daily tabloid The Sun, sister paper to the News of the World and Britain's biggest selling daily newspaper. Andy Coulson, her deputy editor since 2000, becomes editor of the Sunday paper. Wade tells a parliamentary committee her paper paid police for information. News International later says this is not company practice. 2007 January: The News of the World's royal affairs editor Clive Goodman is jailed for four months . Private investigator Glenn Mulcaire is given a six-month prison term. Goodman and Mulcaire admitted conspiring to intercept communications while Mulcaire also pleaded guilty to five other charges of intercepting voicemail messages. After the two were sentenced, News of the World editor Coulson resigns, saying he took "ultimate responsibility," though knew nothing of the offences in advance. May: Harbottle and Lewis, News International’s lawyers, review internal emails between Mr Coulson and executives, but find “no evidence” they were aware of Goodman’s actions. Later that month, Andy Coulson becomes the Conservative Party's director of communications under leader David Cameron. December: James Murdoch is made chief executive of News Corporation's European and Asian operations.

2009 June: Rebekah Brooks becomes CEO of News International. July: It emerges that News of the World reporters, with the knowledge of senior staff, illegally accessed messages from the mobile phones of celebrities and politicians while Coulson was editor from 2003 to 2007. It is also reported that News Group Newspapers, which publishes the News of the World, has paid out more than £1 million to settle cases that threatened to reveal evidence of its journalists' alleged involvement in phone hacking. Scotland Yard says it will not be carrying out a new investigation into the allegations, but the Crown Prosecution Service announces an urgent review of material provided by the police in 2006. News of the World editor Colin Myler tells the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee of an internal review in which more than 2,500 emails were read and that “no evidence” of wrongdoing had been uncovered . Later that month, Mr Coulson tells MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee things went ''badly wrong'' under his editorship of the News of the World, but insists he knew nothing about alleged phone tapping by his journalists.

September: Les Hinton, chief executive of Dow Jones and former executive chairman of Murdoch's newspaper arm in Britain, tells a committee of legislators any problem with phone hacking was limited to the one, already well-publicised, case. He says they carried out a wide review and found no new evidence. At the start of the month, Rebekah Brooks leaves The Sun to become the chief executive of News International. November: The Press Complaints Commission says in a second report that it has seen no new evidence to suggest anyone at the News of the World other than Goodman and Mulcaire hacked phone messages, or that the paper's executives knew what the pair were doing. 2010 February: The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sports Committee says in a report that it is "inconceivable" that managers at the paper did not know about the practice, which the legislators say was more widespread than the paper had admitted. May: Mr Coulson becomes head of the new coalition Government's media operation after David Cameron enters 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister. September: MPs ask parliament's standards watchdog to begin a new investigation into the hacking allegations at the Sunday tabloid and its former editor Coulson.

The New York Times publishes a long article which claims Mr Coulson knew his staff was carrying out illegal phone hacking. The story also raises questions about how vigorously Scotland Yard pursued the case and prompts pressure for a new investigation. January: British police open a new investigation into allegations of phone hacking at the tabloid called 'Operation Weeting' after actress Sienna Miller, MP George Galloway and RMT union leader Bob Crow claim their phones were hacked. The News of the World announces it has sacked senior editor Ian Edmondson after an internal inquiry. Despite David Cameron defending Andy Coulson in the face of ongoing speculation about his knowledge of phone hacking at News of the World, Andy Coulson resigns as Cameron's communications chief . February: The Met Police release a statement saying officers have identified more potential victims of hacking while reviewing files relating to the original Goodman and Mulcaire case. They say they are urgently notifying people who had previously been told that police had "little or no information" about them. Lawyers for a football agent suing the News of the World claim Glenn Mulcaire passed information directly to the newsdesk rather than an individual reporter, Goodman.

They say the desk could have been staffed by "a number of journalists", and suggest that this means knowledge of phone-hacking was more widespread than previously admitted. A judge rules that Mulcaire must provide information about whether other journalists at the NoW were involved in hacking. He had tried to claim he should be exempt from giving evidence for fear of incriminating himself. March: The BBC's Panorama reveals that in 2006, a then News of the World executive, Alex Marunchak, obtained e-mails belonging to an ex-British Army intelligence officer that had been hacked in to by a private detective. Mr Marunchak denies any wrongdoing, while News International says it will act if shown new evidence of improper conduct. April: Former News of the World editor Ian Edmondson, chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and senior journalist James Weatherup are arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept mobile phone messages. They are released on bail until September. The News of the World admits it had a role in phone hacking. The News of the World publishes apologies on both its website and newspaper. News International also announces it will set up a compensation scheme to deal with "justifiable claims" fairly and efficiently.

However, the publisher adds it will continue to contest cases "that we believe are without merit or where we are not responsible". May: Former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott, Labour MP Chris Bryant, ex-Scotland Yard commander Brian Paddick and journalist Brendan Montague, all alleged victims of phone hacking, win a High Court bid for a judicial review into the police inquiry . They believe their human rights were breached. Former senior Scotland Yard officer Ali Dizaei is also told by the Met Police his phone could have been hacked in 2006. If the claims are true, Mr Dizaei says he will sue. June 7: News Group, owner of the News of the World, formally apologises to Sienna Miller for hacking into several of her mobile phones, and pays her a settlement of £100,000 for damages and legal costs. June 9: Lord Prescott, the alleged victim of phone hacking by the News of the World , calls for the government to hold an independent public inquiry into the issue. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard confirms it is also investigating allegations of computer-hacking at the News of the World following the March BBC Panorama revelations about e-mail hacking.

June 15: Footballer Ryan Giggs launches legal action against the News of the World over claims his mobile phone was hacked, his lawyer says. June 20: 300 emails handed to Scotland Yard, which had been retrieved from Harbottle & Lewis, allegedly show that Mr Coulson had authorised payments to police officers. June 22: Football pundit Andy Gray accepts £20,000 in compensation from the News of the World owner News Group Newspapers, plus undisclosed costs, over voicemail interceptions. June 23: Police investigating the phone-hacking claims arrest a 39-year-old woman in West Yorkshire. She is understood to be Terenia Taras, the partner or former partner of Greg Miskiw, who worked in senior roles for the News of the World until 2005. She was released on bail and is due to return to a West Yorkshire police station on a date in mid-October. And following a month-long trial, Levi Bellfield is found guilty of murdering Milly Dowler in 2002 . June 27: Police arrest journalist Laura Elston, who covers royal stories for the Press Association, on suspicion of intercepting communications.

She is released on bail until October. July 4: A lawyer for Dowler's family says he learned from police that Milly Dowler's voicemail messages had been hacked , possibly by a News of the World investigator, while police were searching for her. The lawyers claim some of her voicemails been deleted to make room for more messages, misleading police and her family into thinking Milly was still alive. July 5: Police reveal they have also been in touch with the parents affected by the 2002 Soham murders, where two 10-year-old girls were seized and killed by a school caretaker. Scotland Yard met the parents in May 2011 following concerns their phones had been hacked . News International says that new information has been given to police. Reports suggest it related to emails appearing to show payments were made to police for information and were authorised by Coulson. The list of those possibly targeted includes victims of the London 7/7 bombings in 2005 , and the family spokesman of Madeleine McCann , who disappeared in Portugal in 2007. Companies begin pulling advertising at the News of the World.

News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks says she is ''appalled and shocked'' that Milly Dowler's phone was hacked, while Prime Minister Cameron calls it a "truly dreadful act" . • Read: Phone hacking live coverage, July 7 July 8: David Cameron announces two inquiries, one to be led by a judge on the hacking scandal, another to look at new regulations for the British press. Cameron says he takes full responsibility for employing Andy Coulson as his spokesman, defending his decision to give him a "second chance." Coulson is arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and suspicion of corruption. He is bailed until October after nine hours at a police station. The News of the World's former royal editor, Clive Goodman, is rearrested in connection with a police operation looking at alleged payments to police by journalists at the paper. Police search the offices of the Daily Star tabloid where Goodman freelanced. The Star is not connected to News Corp. • Read: Phone hacking live coverage, July 8 and July 9 July 10: Rupert Murdoch flies into London to handle the crisis. News of the World prints its last edition.

July 11: Following intense speculation, Rupert Murdoch withdraws News Corp's offer to spin off BSkyB's Sky News channel. This opens the way for the government to refer News Corp's bid for the 61 per cent of BSkyB it does not already own to the competition regulator, Ofcom, who will carry out a lengthy probe. Cameron says that News Corp needed to focus on "clearing up this mess" before thinking about the next corporate move. Allegations surface on the same day that journalists at several News Corp papers have targeted former Prime Minister Gordon Brown . Police confirm to Brown that his name was on a list of targets compiled by Mulcaire. Claims that The Sun hacked into the medical records of Gordon Brown's son turned out to be false after a member of the public signed an affidavit and came forward as the source . • Read: Phone hacking live coverage, July 11 July 12: John Yates, Assistant Commissioner at London's Metropolitan Police, who was criticised for deciding in 2009 not to reopen the earlier inquiry, appears before parliament's Home Affairs Committee saying he has no plans to resign.

Andy Hayman, a former Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard, is pilloried by MPs as "more Clouseau than Columbo" as he faced questions about his handling of the 2005 phone hacking investigation. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, the officer leading Scotland Yard’s new inquiry, suggests to MPs that the scope of the investigation could be widened beyond journalists at the NOTW to include the “criminal liability of directors”. • Read: Phone hacking live coverage, July 12 July 13: News Corporation announces that it has withdrawn its bid for BSkyB . The family of Milly Dowler meet David Cameron in Downing Street. Meanwhile, Lord Justice Leveson is named as the chair of the public inquiry into the allegations of phone hacking, and during an emergency debate in the Commons, Gordon Brown declares that News International has "descended from the gutter to the sewers". • Read: Phone hacking live coverage, July 13 July 14: Neil Wallis, the former executive editor of the News of the World, is arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications. The 60-year-old is the ninth person to be arrested in connection with the whole affair.

Rebekah Brooks agrees to appear before MPs on July 19, while James and Rupert Murdoch agree to appear before the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee after the Deputy Serjeant at Arms hand delivers summonses to News International's offices. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch says that "minor mistakes" had been made . • Read: Phone hacking live coverage, July 14 July 15: Rebekah Brooks resigns , saying that her "desire to remain on the bridge" has made her the "focal point". In her statement , she goes on to say: "This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavours to fix the problems." Tom Mockridge, chief executive of Sky Italia, is announced as News International's new chief executive . Rupert Murdoch, "humbled and shaken", meets the family of Milly Dowler, and apologises. No 10 then releases information on David Cameron's meetings with media owners, editors and senior journalists since May 2010. • Read: Phone hacking live coverage, July 15 July 16: Rupert Murdoch uses adverts in national newspapers to apologise for the News of the World's "serious wrongdoing".

News International is investigating allegations that former deputy editor Neil Wallis was receiving payment from the tabloid while working as a consultant for the Metropolitan Police. Former News of the World showbiz reporter Sean Hoare, the first named journalist to allege that Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking at the newspaper, is found dead at his home . Police say they are not treating his death as suspicious. • Read: Phone hacking live coverage, July 18 July 19: The Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee holds a hearing with former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson, former Assistant Commissioner John Yates, James and Rupert Murdoch and former News International executive Rebekah Brooks. The committee's key questions cover the individuals' knowledge of phone hacking, police payments, use of private detectives and the withholding of potentially damaging information from senior officials and police. After them, MPs question James and Rupert Murdoch for more than two and a half hours. Murdoch Sr asserts that the News of the World staff, not himself, was responsible for the consequences of phone hacking. During the proceedings, a protester attempts to attack Rupert Murdoch with a custard pie only to be fended off by Murdoch's wife Wendi Deng . Rebekah Brooks follows.

She is pressed by MPs on her knowledge of the News of the World's involvement with private detectives, police payments and covering the legal fees of Glenn Mulcaire and Clive Goodman. She denies having a close relationship with David Cameron . July 20: In the wake of the hearings, News International suspends legal funding for Glenn Mulcaire . A judge orders police to reveal any phone hacking evidence related to Jemima Khan and Hugh Grant , the latter of which secretly recorded a former News of the World journalist describe the full extent of phone hacking . Full extent of alleged cover-up at the News of the World could be disclosed as dealings with Harbottle & Lewis are released by News International . A row escalates between former News of the World and Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan and Tory MP Louise Mensch . While questioning Rupert and James Murdoch, Mensch quoted Morgan's book The Insider as implying the former Mirror editor knew that phone hacking occurred at his newspaper, and "even won him an award". Morgan adamently denies Mensch's allegations and says her comments were an "absolute blatant lie".

• Read: Phone hacking live coverage, July 20 July 21: New revelations disclose that James Murdoch may have misled MPs at the Commons committee hearings, where he claimed he didn't know that more than one reporter engaged in phone hacking. Since the hearing, last News of the World editor Colin Myler and Tom Crone, the newspaper's lawyer, have come forward claiming they told Murdoch personally. • Read: Phone hacking live coverage, July 27 July 28: New reports emerge that the News of the World targeted the mobile phone of Sarah Payne's mother, Sara . The phone was allegedly a gift from he News of the World and given to Payne personally by Rebekah Brooks. Eight-year-old Sarah was abducted and killed in July 2000, and her story was the impetus behind a News of the World campaign to make public the addresses of child sex offenders; the campaign became official in 2008 under the name Sarah's Law. MP Tom Watson describes the revelation as a "new low". Sara Payne had written a piece for the final issue of the News of the World , saying her case proved the paper was a "force for good".

August 16: MP Tom Watson announces the Parliamentary Select Committee will share new evidence about the phone hacking scandal, including evidence that James Murdoch knew about more than one instance of phone hacking at the News of the World. A letter from Clive Goodman to News International executives was also released ; in it, Goodman claimed that Andy Coulson fully supported reporters using phone hacking to source stories. "This practice was widely discussed in the daily editorial conference, until explicit reference to it was banned by the editor," Goodman wrote in the letter. He also challenged his dimissal from News of the World, claiming the paper covered the cost of his legal fees, told him he could keep his job and paid him £243,502 after he was prosecuted. A redacted version of the letter was originally given to MPs in 2007; at the time, the letter contained no reference to Coulson. • Read: Phone hacking live coverage, August 16 August 17: James Murdoch admits to paying £700,000 of 'hush money' to Gordon Taylor , chairman of the Professional Footballers Association.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission also releases a statement saying they will not conduct further investigations into the conduct of former police officials Sir Paul Stephenson, John Yates, Andy Hayman and Peter Clarke. April 5: Sky News admits senior executives authorised a journalist to hack into the emails of John Darwin , the "canoe man" accused of faking his own death in 2002 but said it was in the public interest. April 18: Scotland Yard's phone-hacking squad sends four files relating to four journalists, one police officer and six other suspects to CPS. April 20: Sun's royal editor Duncan Larcombe is arrested by detectives investigating alleged illegal payments to police and public officials. April 23: Ofcom launches investigation into the hacking of private email accounts by Sky News. May 1: Culture, Media and Sport select committee delivers report on the role the Murdochs and their senior executives played in the phone-hacking scandal. May 3: Retired Scotland Yard officer was arrested today by detectives investigating inappropriate payments from journalists. May 25: Clodagh Hartley The Sun’s Whitehall Editor was arrested as part of the investigation into illegal payments to public officials on May 25.

May 28: A 42-year-old woman on suspicion of money laundering. Tony Blair appears at Leveson Inquir y and claims he only had a working relationship with Rupert Murdoch. A protester interupts his evidence claiming Blair is a war crimina l. May 29: CPS decide there is insufficient evidence to bring charges against Amelia Hill, the newspaper's special investigations correspondent, and a 51-year-old detective constable over unauthorised disclosures from Operation Weeting. May 30: Andy Coulson is held by Strathclyde Police on suspicion of perjury over evidence he gave to the Tommy Sheridan perjury trial. Coulson told the court he was unaware of phone hacking or payments to police at the News of the World. May 31: Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt gives evidence to the Leveson inquiry , insisting there is no reason for him to quit and that he handled News Corporation's bid for BSkyB "scrupulously fairly". Text messages handed over to the inquiry showed he texted Chancellor George Osborne to express fears the Government was going to "screw up" the deal after secret recordings emerged of Business Secretary Vince Cable saying he was "declaring war" on News Corp.

June 1: Labour reveal plans to force a Commons vote calling for Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to face an independent investigation into claims he breached the ministerial code in his handling of the BSkyB bid. June 11: Lord Oakeshott becomes the first senior Lib Dem to call for Jeremy Hunt to resign , saying "no self–respecting minister could possibly carry on" after the griling he received at the Leveson inquiry. June 13: Rebekah and Charlie Brooks appear at Westminster Magistrates Court charged with perverting the course of justice. They appeared alongside PA Cheryl Carter, driver and two security officals also charged. June 22: Rebekah and Charlie Brooks appear at Southwark Crown Court where court hears Brooks could still face charges over phone hacking. July 20: Sun Journalist Rhodri Phillips arrested over allegtions of email hacking. July 23: Met's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers appears at Leveson Inquiry where she reveals that Trinity Mirror, News International and Express Newspapers are being investigated for corrupt payments to officials.

July 24: Coulson and Brooks are among seven former News International staff charged with phone hacking relating to a range of targets including Milly Dowler, Brad Pitt, Sir Paul McCartney and Wayne Rooney. Also charged were the newspaper’s former head of news Ian Edmonson, Neville Thurlbeck, its former chief reporter, Stuart Kuttner, the managing editor and former executives Greg Miskiw and James Weatherup. The Leveson Inquiry concludes hearing evidence. July 31: A Sun journalist is arrested investigating a suspected conspiracy to gather data from stolen mobile phones. Aug 07: The Church of England pulls its £1.9m investment from News Corporation in protest at phone hacking, saying the company had done too little to strengthen corporate governance. Aug 29: Former Times reporter Patrick Foster arrested for allegedly hacking into an anonymous police blogger’s email account. September 19: Two journalists and a serving officer with Wiltshire Police are arrested by police investigating allegations of innapropriate payments to public officials. September 26: Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks appear alongside a number of fellow executives and journalists from the News of the World in a preliminary hearing.

They are released on conditional bail and expected to be tried on September 9 2013. October 2: Two men, including a journalist, are arrested by police investigating computer hacking. October 23: A serving member of the Armed Forces and a former Ministry of Defence employee are arrested by detectives investigating corrupt payments to public officials. November 20: Andy Coulson and Clive Goodman are charged with conspiring with others to commit misconduct in a public office by illegally paying for information from Buckingham Palace's internal phone directory. The Crown Prosecution Service also announces Brooks will be charged alongside The Sun's long-serving former chief reporter, John Kay, over alleged illegal payments to a Ministry of Defence employee, Bettina Jordan-Barber. November 21: Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, openly mocks Lord Justice Leveson at the Spectator magazine's Parliamentarian of the Year awards. He jokes the judge should be handed an award for his "commitment to truth-telling" by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the body which produced the Newsnight programme falsely linking Lord McAlpine, the former Conservative Party Treasurer, to allegations of child abuse.

November 26: George Eustice, David Cameron's former press secretary, urges fellow MPs not to give newspapers any more chances at self-regulation - in a briefing partly prepared by Hacked Off , the lobby group urging regulation. Press 'need to act' after Leveson - BBC News BBC News Press 'need to act' after Leveson 5 December 2012 Close share panel Image caption The inquiry has examined media practices at the News of the World and other papers What was the Leveson Inquiry? It was a public, judge-led inquiry set up by Prime Minister David Cameron to examine the culture, practice and ethics of the press. It was established in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal at the now-defunct News of the World tabloid. Lord Justice Leveson has made recommendations on the future of press regulation. What did it look at? It looked at the relationship between the press and the public, including phone-hacking and other potentially illegal behaviour, and at the relationships between the press and the police and the press and politicians. What did Lord Justice Leveson recommend?

He made broad and complex recommendations relating to how the press is regulated: Newspapers should continue to be self-regulated - and the government should have no power over what they publish. There had to be a new press standards body created by the industry, with a new code of conduct That body should be backed by legislation, which would create a means to ensure the regulation was independent and effective The arrangement would provide the public with confidence that their complaints would be seriously dealt with - and ensure the press are protected from interference. Why did he recommend reworking press regulation? The current system, where the press is self-regulated voluntarily through the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), is widely agreed to be doomed - the PCC itself has agreed to move into a "transitional phase" until a long-term replacement can be established. The chairman of the PCC, Lord Hunt, wants a new "tough, independent regulator with teeth". He told the Leveson inquiry there was a willingness among publications for a " fresh start and a new body " based on legally-enforceable contracts between publishers and the new body. The Free Speech Network, which represents many editors and publishers, is vigorously opposed to any state involvement in press regulation.

It says the press exists to scrutinise those in positions of power , and it could not do that if those it was scrutinising had authority over it. But the Hacked Off campaign, which represents many alleged victims of phone-hacking, says voluntary self-regulation has failed and its said that the Leveson proposals are the way forward. Will his recommendations be implemented? Prime Minister David Cameron had reportedly promised to implement the recommendations, providing they were not "bonkers". But within hours of the report's publication, he said that he was not convinced legislation underpinning self-regulation was right. Mr Cameron then warned the press the "the clock is ticking" for them to introduce a self-regulation system with the tough powers set out by Lord Justice Leveson. "That means million-pound fines, proper investigation of complaints, prominent apologies," he said. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg says he backs Leveson, highlighting a split within the coalition government. Labour leader Ed Miliband has urged the government to accept the report in its entirety. What about broadcasters and the internet? The inquiry has been specifically into the press, not into the media more generally. Broadcasters are regulated by Ofcom, which is backed by law.

Other people publishing on the internet, such as bloggers and tweeters, are not regulated as such, but are covered by laws on issues such as libel and contempt of court. Some, including MPs and peers, have questioned the wisdom of bringing more regulation to the press and not the wider internet. Lord Justice Leveson himself referred to material on the internet as "the elephant in the room". However, any publisher could sign up to the new legislation-backed self regulator that Lord Justice Leveson envisages. How was the inquiry conducted? Witnesses during eight months of hearings included alleged victims of press intrusion, journalists, newspaper executives and proprietors, police, communications advisers and politicians. They were called to give evidence under oath at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London. Legally, they could have been compelled to attend. In some cases, specific evidence about phone-hacking allegations was not heard, to avoid prejudicing ongoing criminal investigations. Up to 30 June 2012, the last set of published costs, the inquiry had cost £3.9m. An inquiry spokesman has estimated that the overall cost of the inquiry so far could reach £5.6m.

Image caption Lord Justice Leveson was the judge during the 2006 trial over the killing of schoolboy Damilola Taylor Who is Lord Justice Leveson? Lord Justice (Sir Brian) Leveson became a barrister in 1970 and a QC 16 years later. He was made a High Court judge in 2000 and appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2006. As chairman of the Sentencing Council, a position he still holds, he is responsible for criminal sentencing policy in England and Wales. Lord Justice Leveson led the prosecution case against serial killer Rose West, who was jailed in 1995 for the murder of 10 women and girls, and was the judge during the 2006 trial following the killing of 10-year-old London schoolboy Damilola Taylor. Will there be any further Leveson inquiries? The Leveson Inquiry's terms of reference includes a second phase, looking at the extent of unlawful or improper conduct within News International and other media organisations, and how the police investigated allegations.

This is due to take place once all legal proceedings are completed - police are currently carrying out three investigations looking into phone hacking, computer hacking and payments made to public officials by journalists. Several journalists and others have been charged under these investigations and are due to stand trial. However, in May 2012 Lord Justice Leveson released a statement questioning the value to be gained from a Part 2, given the "enormous cost", the fact that material will be years out of date by then, and that it could take longer than the first inquiry. Phone hacking: Leveson inquiry warning to editors - BBC News BBC News Phone hacking: Leveson inquiry warning to editors 14 November 2011 Read more about sharing. Close share panel A judge beginning an inquiry into media practices has warned newspapers not to victimise inquiry witnesses who speak out against press intrusion. Lord Justice Leveson is examining the culture and practices of the press following the hacking scandal. Despite the warning, he said he had "absolutely no wish to stifle freedom of speech and expression". Meanwhile, a private detective's notebooks suggest he hacked phones for the Sun and the Daily Mirror.

The hearing heard Glenn Mulcaire wrote names in his notes which recorded the voicemails he illegally intercepted, which suggested he worked for those newspapers as well as for a series of News of the World journalists. Hearings will later examine the extent of unlawful conduct by the press, and the police's initial hacking investigation. This second phase will wait until after the current police investigation into News of the World phone hacking, and any resultant prosecutions. At the scene By Peter HuntBBC News, Royal Courts of Justice "Who guards the guardians" was the pithy way Lord Justice Leveson summed up the far from pithy task facing this inquiry - which was described at one point as "a root and branch investigation of the press". The senior judge stressed the importance of newspapers to democracy. He also issued a blunt warning - he'll be watching to see if any of the "victims" who give evidence have a rough time in the papers afterwards. Two competing versions of British newspapers were presented. In one, they are a force for great public good and hold the powerful to account. In the other, they (particularly the tabloids) use unscrupulous methods and believe themselves to be almost above the law.

It will be Lord Justice Leveson's not inconsiderable challenge to decide where the truth lies. Peter Hunt on Twitter Lord Justice Leveson said concerns had been raised that the press might target those who spoke out against it during the inquiry. "I have absolutely no wish to stifle freedom of speech and expression, but I anticipate that monitoring will take place of press coverage over the months to come. "And if it appears that those concerns are made out, without objective justification, it might be appropriate to draw the conclusion that these vital rights are being abused, which itself would provide evidence of culture, practice and ethics which could be relevant to my ultimate recommendations." In opening remarks, he reiterated: "I fully consider freedom of expression and freedom of the press to be fundamental to our democracy. But that freedom must be exercised with the rights of others in mind." He said the press provided "an essential check on all aspects of public life". "That is why any failure within the media affects all of us. At the heart of this inquiry therefore may be one simple question - who guards the guardians?" Counsel to the inquiry, Robert Jay QC, has been outlining the inquiry's terms of reference and the reasons for its establishment.

He said what could be justified as being in the public interest and how, lay at the heart of the hearings. The inquiry had not yet seen any examples of phone hacking by media that could "even start to be justified on public interest grounds", Mr Jay said. "A constant theme will be the alleged subterranean influences operated by the press on the democratic process." 'Body of evidence' BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins, who is reporting on the inquiry via twitter , says that Mr Jay has stated that "questions must be asked as to how high up in News International the metaphorical buck stops". Mr Jay went on to say evidence is beginning to emerge that phone hacking was not limited to News International, our correspondent added. The lawyer gave the hearing details of the notebooks belonging to Glenn Mulcaire, who was jailed with the News of the World's former royal editor Clive Goodman after they admitted intercepting voicemail messages on royal phones. Some of his notes corresponded to News of the World employees, one of whom - referred to only as "A" - apparently made 1,453 separate requests for information from Mulcaire. But he also wrote "The Sun" and a name relating to the Daily Mirror in his notebooks, the inquiry was told.

In total, about 28 legible corner names are legible in the 11,000 pages of notes which police seized from Mulcaire, which relate to a total of 2,266 taskings and the names of 5,795 potential victims, the inquiry heard. Media captionLord Justice Leveson outlines the terms of reference of the inquiry The first witnesses are not expected to be called until next week. The revelation earlier this year that Milly Dowler's phone had been hacked by the News of the World prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to establish the inquiry, and led to the closure of the tabloid. Those giving evidence will include the parents of the murdered teenager and the parents of missing girl Madeleine McCann. Fifty-three alleged victims have now granted core participant status, meaning they can be represented by a barrister, seek to cross-examine witnesses and make opening and closing statements during the inquiry. BBC correspondent Peter Hunt says Milly's father, and MPs Denis MacShane and Chris Bryant are attending day one of the hearings.

Lord Justice Leveson is being advised by a six-member panel consisting of Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti, former Ofcom chairman Lord (David) Currie, former Channel 4 News political editor Elinor Goodman, ex-Daily Telegraph political editor George Jones, former Financial Times chairman Sir David Bell and ex-West Midlands police chief constable Sir Paul Scott-Lee. Sun associate editor Trevor Kavanagh told Today he thought there was insufficient representation of the tabloid press on the inquiry panel. "With such a very large part of the newspaper industry unrepresented, I think there is a risk that it will not look at the whole picture." Lord Justice Leveson is expected to report back within a year. Live video of all the sessions is being streamed on the inquiry's website. MediaInstitute21 MediaInstitute21 June 22 2012 Prof. Naoki Monna The Leveson Inquiry is an ongoing public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press following the above scandal. Rupert Murdock, journalists, the UK government, Metropolitan Police Office, Press Complaints Commission and many citizens are involved. .

“Be Media Wise” is a new awareness campaign following the above scandal by the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom in Britain. How about our country? [Member’s book] Taketora Ogata and CIA by Noriaki Yoshida (Heibonsya shinsyo 639) The real image of Taketora Ogata, consevatitive politician through the American official document. His code name is POCAPON . On the formation of the Liberal Party of Japan in 1955, a political maneuver to Japan had been worked by CIA. The real image of Taketora Ogata revealed through a new official document of USA. U.S. document has shown that CIA attempted to make key conservative politician Taketora Ogata to Japan’s prime minister in the 1950s under U.S. control. He was a former leader of the Japan Liberal Party, who played a leading role in merging conservative parties into the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 1955 This is a masterpiece written about Ogata from the objective and calm angle.

Phone Hacking « Semi-Partisan Politics March 13, 2014 By Samuel Hooper in Britain , UK Current Affairs , UK Politics Tags: Journalism , Phone Hacking , Politics , Press , Rebekah Brooks , Rupert Murdoch , Tony Blair , UK Politics Leave a comment Democracy cannot survive without a free press willing and able to act as a check on government power and behaviour. The relationship between the government and the media should therefore be adversarial – although it was thuggish of David Cameron’s government to dispatch the Cabinet Secretary to the Guardian’s offices to bully them into destroying their computers in the wake of the Edward Snowden scandal, rather this terrible, flagrant abuse of power than the chilling alternative of Sir Jeremy Heywood popping by every single afternoon for tea, chitchat and a list of government-sanctioned news stories for publication. But it is this latter, far more insidious type of close, symbiotic relationship that has been prevalent between parts of the British media and the politicians on whom they report and are supposed to keep in check.

Former prime minister Tony Blair may no longer occupy Number 10 Downing Street, but the self-evident warmth of his newly revealed correspondence with Rebekah Brooks – former chief executive of News International, now on trial for her alleged role in the phone hacking scandal – shows just how overfamiliar those in power can get to those who lead the publications who supposedly scrutinise them. The following exchange of text messages between Tony Blair and Brooks on the day after her resignation, reported by The Guardian , really says it all: Tony Blair: If you’re still going to parliament you should call me. I have experience of these things! Tx Rebekah Brooks: Definitely depends on the police interview first. I have Stephen Parkinson [a lawyer] here today. I have never met him but people say he is good. Tony Blair: He’s excellent. Rebekah Brooks: Great news. Feeling properly terrified. Police are behaving so badly. Tony Blair: Everyone panics in these situations and they will feel they have their reputation to recover. Assume you have quality QC advice? When’s the interview? Rebekah Brooks: Sunday probably or Monday. Cms committee. Tuesday. Stephen bringing someone called Emma Hodges and we have QC.

Tony Blair: That’s good. I’m no use on police stuff but call me after that because I may be some help on Commons. Rebekah Brooks: Great. Will do. X There are two issues here. The first is the impropriety of a former UK prime minister essentially offering coaching to someone involved in a very current public scandal before they are due to give evidence at a parliamentary committee hearing. While there may be no legal prohibition on this type of interaction, it seems very morally dubious. Were the subject of the hearing about anything else it could perhaps be overlooked, but since it was a hearing of the Culture Select Committee specifically on the allegations of phone hacking and the issues raised about the behaviour of the press, Blair’s offer of counsel and friendly support seems to put him squarely on the side of the alleged perpetrators rather than the victims. The second issue is the self-evident friendship between the former news executive and the former politician. Friendships such as these are forged over time, some of which was doubtless while Tony Blair was still prime minister.

If Tony Blair’s regard for Rebekah Brooks is such that he was offering her emotional support via text message at the height of the phone hacking scandal, what other acts of friendship was he bestowing upon her while he still occupied Number 10 Downing Street? And how might the publications that Brooks ran have reflected this friendship? Some might argue that it is unfair to question the nature of this friendship. They are wrong – it is entirely appropriate. Serving as prime minister comes with certain responsibilities and standards of behaviour. It may not be part of the oath of office, but one of those responsibilities is surely to maintain professional relationships with business and the media. If both Tony Blair and Rebekah Brooks were doing their jobs properly during the period of his premiership, this would almost certainly have precluded any meaningful friendship from forming. If, however, they were behaving toward each other then as they apparently do so now, everything suddenly makes a lot more sense. While the release of Tony Blair and Rebekah Brooks’ text message correspondence doesn’t really tell us anything that we didn’t already know – that our elected leaders are sometimes far too close to the press barons who help to control the news agenda – seeing the evidence in black and white is still unsettling.

Recalling Tony Blair as prime minister and then juxtaposing this new image of “T” sending kiss-laden text messages to the woman who then edited Britain’s most-read newspaper casts that era in a whole new, sordid light. The dirty, illicit feeling that reading these messages evokes would be more at home in the television series “House of Cards” than real-world Britain. We deserve better from our politicians, and from the news media. July 24, 2012 By Samuel Hooper in Semi-Partisan Summary Tags: aurora colorado , David Blankenhorn , Fishing , Gambling , Leveson , Mindy Meyer , Phone Hacking , Politics , President Obama , religion , Space , tax policy Leave a comment CULTURE In an interesting piece from Slate Magazine , Hanna Rosin delves into the deeper meaning behind the fact that the men strived to protect the women as the horror of the Aurora Colorado shooting unfolded. In an interesting and poignant article, noting the various ways that traditional “manhood” is being eroded by economic and social forces, she concludes: “Throwing your body in front of your girlfriend when people all around you are getting shot is an instinct that’s basic, and deeper.

It’s the same reason these Batman and Spider-Man franchises endure: Because whatever else is fading away, women still seem to want their superhero, and men still seem to want to be him.” Through the prism of astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s memoirs and a recent Soyuz rocket launch , Atlantic magazine takes an interesting look at the intertwining of human spaceflight endeavours (perhaps the pinnacle of our scientific accomplishment) with religion and the sacred world. As well as the obvious example of Aldrin taking communion while on the surface of the moon, the author also considers other examples: “here is a priest, outfitted in the finery of a centuries-old church, shaking holy water over the engines, invoking God’s protection for a journey to near-earth orbit. That these two spheres of human creation co-exist is remarkable. That they interact, space agencies courting the sanction of Russian Orthodox Christianity, is strange”. A long article, but well worth a read.

Mike Huckabee thinks that Chick-fil-A’s decision to come out in opposition to gay marriage equality is just super, and is proposing that Americans make this Wednesday “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” in recognition of their “principled” (some might say irrelevant, because a corporation is harmed by gay marriage even less than a heterosexual human being) stance. NPR reports in depth on the Vatican’s decision to send a crack team of Bishops to oversee the Leadership Conference of Women Religious – an organisation representing the majority of nuns in the United States – due to concerns that they are promoting “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith”. Sister Pat Farrell, whose interview forms the basis of this article, sees things rather differently, and while she says that the LCWR will do its utmost to engage with the Vatican in good faith, there may be some elements of the mandate with which they cannot comply.

Money quote from Sister Pat: “The question is, ‘Can you be Catholic and have a questioning mind?’ That’s what we’re asking … I think one of our deepest hopes is that in the way we manage the balancing beam in the position we’re in, if we can make any headways in helping to create a safe and respectful environment where church leaders along with rank-and-file members can raise questions openly and search for truth freely, with very complex and swiftly changing issues in our day, that would be our hope. But the climate is not there. And this mandate coming from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith putting us in a position of being under the control of certain bishops, that is not a dialogue. If anything, it appears to be shutting down dialogue.” A British couple holidaying in British Columbia caught a big fish. A really, really big fish. A really, really, really really big fish. The creature weighs nearly half a metric tonne, is 4 metres long and is estimated to be at least 100 years old. Makes for some good bragging rights back at the local pub when they go home… BRITISH POLITICS Minister of the Bleeding Obvious states the bleeding obvious in this story from The Telegraph.

Treasury minister David Gauke informs us that it is “morally wrong” to pay tradesmen (plumbers, builders, electricians etc.) with cash in hand, as this makes it easier for them to evade VAT or income tax. Aside from the fact that every cabinet member from Cameron on downwards needs to quit the moral preaching (why can’t you just say “illegal” or “wrong”?), his basic point is right. Until he goes on to say: “Getting a discount with your plumber by paying cash in hand is something that is a big cost to the Revenue and means others have to pay more in tax”. Seriously, Mr. Gauke? You expect us to believe that the black economy makes our taxes higher? You would tax us just as much as you already do even if you could get your hands on this missing slice of revenue, you would just find new ways to fritter it away on pointless, undeserving goals. So let’s not pretend that the cash-in-hand job that your local plumber does on the sly is the one thing standing between us and an actual competitive tax code. You must think we’re all really dumb.

The Commons Culture Committee has reported that they believe the UK’s current gambling laws are outdated and have not kept pace sufficiently with technological innovations such as online gaming. Overall, this appears to be a liberalisation of the market, which is good news. However, the proposed bill has been somewhat watered down in an attempt to assuage the concerns of detractors who worry about potential negative externalities. It’s starting to get real . The BBC reports that the Crown Prosecution Service has decided to charge eight individuals with a total of 19 charges relating to the “phone hacking scandal”. Included in those facing charges are Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. So now the Long-Winded Leveson will not be the only thing keeping this dull story in the news. Hooray. AMERICAN POLITICS Inspired by the movie “Legally Blonde”, 22-year-old US State Senate candidate Mindy Meyer has blinged up her website with a lot of bright pink, bad MIDI sound files and other bells and whistles. If you ever wanted to know what you would get if you crossed a political website with MySpace at the peak of its popularity, here is your answer .

She would clearly make a great state senator, because according to her homepage, she is against corruption. Says Meyer: “This is how politics has to change. There is always corruption, but I have the intention to follow my values and ensure that none of what happens in my district is corrupt.” Well, that’s sorted, then. Commentary magazine takes a hatchet to President Obama’s reputation for being a brilliant orator. Alana Goodman calls Obama out for his recent speech in Roanoke, Virginia, not because of his “you didn’t make that” line but for dull, flat words and delivery when he goes off the autocue. She takes the line where Obama says “There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires” as a particularly egregious example of pedestrian speech-giving. She concludes: “For the past four years, liberals have tried to sell us on the idea that Obama is one of the greatest speakers of all time. Now they’re complaining that conservatives are taking his words literally and not cutting him enough slack. Which one is it?”.

In an excellent, frank op-ed in the New York Times , David Blankenhorn charts his evolution from opposing to supporting the idea of gay marriage. Though disappointed that society no longer thinks of marriage primarily in terms of providing the optimal environment in which to raise children, but instead as an official sanctioning of private relationships, he concedes that given this is how marriage is now viewed by most, the best thing to do is to try to strengthen the institution under its new definition, by welcoming committed gay and lesbian couples into the fold. He eventually comes to the conclusion: “So my intention is to try something new. Instead of fighting gay marriage, I’d like to help build new coalitions bringing together gays who want to strengthen marriage with straight people who want to do the same”. A good long-form article from The Daily Beast explaining some of the underlying factors and influences behind the GOP’s sinister anti-Muslim hysteria. I thought I had heard pretty much everything when it comes to crazy quotes uttered by Republican lawmakers and “intellectuals” on this topic, but this article introduced me to a few more sad examples.

May 30, 2012 By Samuel Hooper in UK Current Affairs , UK Politics Tags: Free Speech , Leveson Enquiry , Media , Michael Gove , Phone Hacking , Politics , Press , Press Regulation , Rupert Murdoch 4 Comments I do admire Michael Gove, the UK Education Secretary. When virtually all of the other Conservative cabinet members from David Cameron on downwards have proven themselves to be one disappointment, letdown and betrayal of principle after another, at least Michael Gove has been steadfastly working away at the Department for Education to bring about some real, conservative reforms. So I was several steps beyond overjoyed when I found out that Gove had been giving evidence to the riveting Leveson Enquiry “into the culture, practices and ethics of the press”. Suffice it to say that Leveson met his match yesterday: Bravo!

Since our taxpayer money is being frittered away in order that this pompous, self-aggrandising old gasbag Leveson can sit there like some modern-day oracle, cooking up new ways to constrain freedom of speech in our country, I am happy that those of us who disagree with the premise of the whole enquiry in the first place were able to extract some small measure of payback by sending Michael Gove into the fray to make him squirm a bit. A couple of points to note from this video: 1. Just look at Leveson’s defensive, hunched posture compared to the relaxed, attentive stance of Gove. Leveson is clearly used to being flattered and deferred to almost all the time, and clearly was not ready to have his assumptions – and the preordained outcome of the enquiry – challenged in so articulate a fashion. 2. This is supposed to be an impartial enquiry, remember? So statements like “Don’t you think that the evidence I have heard from at least some of those who have been the subject of press attention can be characterised as rather more than ‘some people are going to be offended some of the time’?” have no place being uttered by Leveson.

What does it matter what other evidence he has heard? Michael Gove is on the stand now, giving his opinion, which rightly should be his alone and not influenced by the parade of people who have already taken the stand. I’m not a lawyer, but isn’t that how these things are supposed to work? This is clearly a man who has made up his mind before he has even started deliberating. The right-wing press in Britain was of course greatly cheered by this turn of events. From David Hughes, writing at The Telegraph: Throughout the Leveson Inquiry it’s been pretty evident that it was the lawyers who felt they were the smartest guys in the room. Today that changed. Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, gave a virtuoso display of both intellect and guts as he made the case for press freedom. It’s perhaps no surprise that this journalist turned politician should, for the first time, take the argument to the Inquiry and swing it away from its focus on Murdoch and hacking and concentrate its mind on the wider issue of freedom of expression. Plenty of witnesses have had mini-spats with Robert Jay QC, the counsel for the Inquiry, but no-one has so far tried to lock horns with Lord Leveson himself.

Gove did so with brio: “Before the case for regulation is made, there is a case for liberty as well…I am unashamedly on the side of those who say we should think very carefully about regulation. By definition, free speech doesn’t mean anything unless some people are going to be offended some of the time.” May 28, 2012 By Samuel Hooper in UK Current Affairs , UK Politics Tags: Journalism , Leveson Enquiry , Media , Phone Hacking , Politics , Press Regulation , Public Enquiry , rolling news , Tony Blair Leave a comment As I type, Tony Blair is giving evidence to the Leveson Enquiry. Why do I care? Because it is receiving wall-to-wall coverage on Britain’s rolling news channels, and as dull as the whole wretched thing is, I cannot bring myself to change channel to The Weakest Link or whatever other daytime television is on offer. What is the Leveson Enquiry? For those unfamiliar, the enquiry has its own website. And logo. Funny how these things have become a kind of industry of their own in Britain.

Question: What is the name, after its chairman, of the ongoing public enquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal?
Answer: LEVESON ENQUIRY